Hilda Solis (D-CA 32nd) has always been one of my favorite people. I watched her enter politics while living in La Puente, California. She had an office about half a mile from my house. When Hilda said she would do something, she did it. She is sweet, passionate and really cares. Her testimony during the COPE debate yesterday almost moved me to tears. And it was especially fitting given that it came on the heels of Bobby Rush’s (D-IL 1st) sickening performance and his ham handed race card tactics.
Of course, Hilda’s being honest is a liability when it comes to fundraising. She only got $6,000 from at&t during the 2006 cycle and nothing from any of the telecoms before that time. As compared to Bobby Rush’s infamous one million dollar donation from SBC to a community center named after himself. Added to that, at&t is Rush’s top contributor for the 2006 cycle. I guess Rush wouldn’t know the definition of honesty if it crawled up his slimy backside.
It just shows to go ya that money talks and fecal matter walks.
The fact that the House of Representatives royally screwed the American public yesterday is not something the media appears to be interested in. Only one reporter was standing around after the vote to capture the story. Drew Clark from the National Journal got a few juicy quotes out of Barton as he exited triumphant. My favorite was on Universal Service.
“We will work with Sen. Stevens, and we will find a compromise that satisfies most of the parties. I fundamentally disagree that we should saddle a new service with a fee that in the Internet era makes no sense. Why put a fee that was based on a monopoly service? With wireless and the Internet, you don't need that model. We can give them the functionality of the Universal Service Fund without given them regulation.”
Functionality of the Universal Service Fund?
Somebody ‘splain that Lucy.
How do you have the “functionality of the Universal Service Fund” when there is no “fund.”
And how do you have “functionality” when you can’t even pass legislation that prevents redlining? I mean wasn’t that part of the whole Universal Service idea in the first place, to address the cherry picking and rural snubbing by the phone companies? Doesn’t Barton understand that it’s not just about applications but also about hard wiring? Even with “wireless” at some point somebody somewhere at some time has to build a wire or put up a tower and provide some infrastructure.
So now there’s the Senate. I get the rare privilege of noting that my two Senators, Mikulski and Sarbanes (Maryland) show no reported income from the telcos. At least that will be a good door opener. But Stevens of Alaska saw his wallet fattened by $59,050 by Verizon and at&t in the 2006 cycle, an increase of $35,500 over 2004. This amount of telephone love could prove difficult in the preservation of the Universal Service Fund or net neutrality or funding for access centers.
But hey! It’s just great that Congress is doing something for the American voter. I mean they really fell down on the job when they couldn’t even pass a Constitutional Amendment to prevent all those gays from getting married. And they probably won’t be able to muster enough votes on their regurgitated Flag Burning Amendment coming up in the next couple of weeks. They got to be able to go back to the voters and give them something for goodness sake, it might as well be the destruction of the internet and jelly donuts for corporate giants.
After all individual morality just isn’t as important as say, individual morality. Not when there’s a pocket to be lined or picked.
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